Forex Hours of Trading
Trading during overlapping market sessions when the markets are the most liquid tends to be the best hours for forex trading especially the overlap of the London and New York trading sessions.
There are a couple of reason why it is important to track the forex hours of trading. Let’s take a closer look at two important factors regarding the best time to trade forex.
Forex Hours
First the opening of each of the three major sessions are believed by many traders to give a hint at the direction of trading for the rest of the day which means many people are keying off of the same things. The second reason is that sessions that overlap tend to have the most volume and bring the most market movement which allows for good trading opportunities.
You can download a forex market hours widget that will appear on your desktop to help you trade the opening and closing of all market session. Also weekends and bank holidays are taken into account in this excellent tool provided by Oanda.
The forex market begins trading on Monday morning in Asia and closes on Friday at the close of the New York session. It is a 24 hour market however even though you can enter and exit trades during the weekend since volume is low and there is little to no activity you will pay weekend spreads if you choose to trade over the weekend. It is highly recommended only to trade during normal market hours.
Forex Trading Hours
The markets open in Asia starting in Sydney and followed shortly thereafter in Tokyo. The last hour of trading in Asia overlaps with the London open which is known for it’s big moves. The most trades forex market session though is when the New York trading session begins as it overlaps with the London trading session for four hours providing the heaviest volume of the day and the most volatile moves, especially at 8:30am EST when US news events are released. The best forex trading days for day trading these sessions are between Tuesday and Thursday.
Forex Hours of Operation


